The relaxed, hands-on teaching of the nurses at Dunedin Hospital’s Fracture Clinic has been celebrated in the Dunedin School of Medicine teaching awards.
Voted on by fourth and fifth-year medical students, the awards recognise and celebrate the teaching contributions of staff at the University of Otago and Southern District Health Board to the Advanced Learning of Medicine (Alm) programme.
Covering a broad range of departments and topics, the awards were to be presented at a ceremony yesterday afternoon.
Popular with medical students for their friendly and practical approach, the Fracture Clinic nurses have received awards four times since 2012.
Fracture clinic staff nurse Jill Cruice said the hour-long teaching sessions involved training the medical students to effectively apply a plaster of Paris cast, and remove it using a vibrating saw.
Students also visited other departments in the hospital, including surgical theatres, to gain valuable practical skills.
‘‘The nurses are very proud to work with them,’’ Mrs Cruice said.
Fifth-year medical students Anar Khan and Trent Larson described the sessions as ‘‘great experience’’.
‘‘It is a very relaxed learning environment and I feel like these are useful skills to have,’’ Mr Larson said.
‘‘The nurses are very experienced and they are willing to share their tips and tricks with us, which is great,’’ Miss Khan said.
Teaching awards
Dunedin School of Medicine teaching awards for excellence in teaching on the Dunedin campus:
Senior medical officer — Dr Paul Trani; registrar — Dr Jeremy Wong; house officer — Dr Richard McLeod; trainee intern — Deneille Bligh; nursing team — fracture clinic nurses; innovations in teaching award — Dr Steve Johnson.
Departmental teaching awards:
Bioethics — Dr Simon Walker; general practice and rural health — Dr Kristin Kenrick; department of Medicine — assoc prof Graeme Hammond-Tooke; preventive and social medicine — Dr Susan Jack; psychological medicine — assoc prof Yoram Barak and Ms Anita Admiraal; surgical sciences — Mr Andrew Audeau; women’s and children’s health — Dr Xiamin Liang. Regional centre teaching award — Kirsty Murrell-McMillan Dean’s award for outstanding contribution — Paul Mederios
